FANS COMMENT

New Stadium... it's a done deal

As much as I love logging into ToffeeWeb each day to get a little fix of what is going on in and around our club, I've finally had enough of this daily debate over the new stadium. It's not that I am not pleased to see that people are very passionate about our club and have long memories about going down to Goodison once a fortnight. However, all this time people are spending thinking of alternatives to the Kirkby site, whether it be redeveloping the old ground or finding another site within Liverpool, is just a waste... Kirkby, my fellow Toffees is a done deal.

I have a contact who worked on the Emirates stadium doing all the sexy electronics for the cashless tills, executive boxes, TV and stadium screens, etc. His company (yes he owns it) have already been given the contract for Everton!! (by the way, they also have the contract for Liverpool and Landsdown Road in Dublin).

He isn�t much of a football fan but I was surprised by the level of information he knew about the new stadium. He really was adamant that it was a done deal. He went on to say that they have already got some building regulation passed to build up to 10 miles of access roads into the stadium.

His firm have been asked to provide a similar specification to that of Arsenal in terms of facilities. So be prepared for plazma screens everywhere; cashless catering facilities (might get a beer within 30 mins — please, oh, please let this be true), text messages to your phone when you enter the ground with a greeting and telling you how much cash you have left on the cashless credit card; for those with a few more quid, the best executive lounges in the country, etc, etc.

Now, I am as cynical as the next Evertonain about this kind of story, but it stacks up in so many ways:

1. I know this guy personally (okay, point 1 is only for me). Why would Tarmac already have given this guy the contract, if it doesn�t work out they will have to compensate him?
2. Why has he already be given a detailed specification of what is required� based on the Arsenal model?
3. Why has the road and site access planning permission already been granted?
4. The stadium spec is based off the Arsenal model� Bill�s friends.

I could go on and on.

I am not expecting anybody to believe me on this (I probably wouldn�t if a stranger told me), but I�ll leave you with the thoughts I had when I was told about this.

Old Bill gets invited down to the Emirates from all his mates at Arsenal, gets introduced to all the contractors (Tarmac in particular, who, by the way, as a side note, did build a magnificent stadium on time and within budget) who wine, dine and 6* him into making sure they are the people to build �his� new stadium. Bill comes back a happy man knowing he will have a �new theatre of dreams� but has to pull on his "Rooney hat" and lie to everybody (for now) that nothing is final, we are looking at every possible opportunity, blah blah blah... after all, fellas, let's not forget he is a bloody actor!

One final thing: this contact... he said its completion date is 2009!

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